Big changes are in store for the mustard industry, says Patrick Ackerman, chair of the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission.
The farmer from Chamberlain, Sask., made that prediction last week in his address to growers and others attending the commission’s annual meeting during Crop Production Week.
“The mustard industry is entering a new frontier,” he said. “We are entering a period of drastic change.”
He said industrial mustard will make a major breakthrough within four years and revolutionize the industry as it exists today, thanks in large part to strong funding and support from farmers, governments and industry groups.
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“This collaboration is allowing us to make great strides in breeding, herbicide use and agronomy.”
Ackerman expects to see the development of synthetic hybrid yellow, brown and oriental mustard with consistent yields and better agronomics and the use of industrial mustard for the production of jet fuel, biolubricants, antimicrobial products and environmentally friendly insecticides.
“We are diversifying a 1,000-year-old crop to bring it into the 21st century with more marketing choices and competition,” said Ackerman. “These are exciting times.”
Diversification is crucial given the volatility of supply and demand, he added.
The meeting included presentations on market outlooks in Canada and Europe, research into the use of mustard meal as an antimicrobial ingredient in processed meat, research projects to improve mustard agronomics and the domestic processing industry.
There was also an update on Mustard 21 Canada Inc., a non-profit corporation set up in 2007 that is running projects to boost the value of the mustard industry to $500 million from $100 to $200 million.
President Peter Desai told the meeting the goal is to create a Canadian advantage through innovation.
That includes breeding for superior mustard varieties, leveraging funds for research projects and expanding the use of mustard into new areas, including herbicides, insecticides and antimicrobial products.
Venkata Vakulabharanam, oilseed specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, said the lack of hybrid varieties and effective weed control have limited yield and quality.
Much of the agronomic information available is dated and of little use, making the research projects now underway vital to the crop’s future.
